


To Keep You Safe

by avngrsrct



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Avengers, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Team Feels, Team as Family, Worried Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-03-05 06:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18823300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avngrsrct/pseuds/avngrsrct
Summary: A dangerous mission arises, and Steve, Tony, Natasha, and Clint tell Peter he has to sit this one out.Too bad Peter never listens.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for any spelling or grammar issues along the way. Hope you enjoy!

“No. Absolutely not.” Steve said while walking into the living room, Peter following right behind him.

 

“But, _Steve_! I don’t understand why you guys won’t let me–”

 

“No, Peter!”

 

Peter opened his mouth to complain but stopped as Natasha walked into the room. Peter’s eyes lit up. Maybe _she_ would let him go on the mission!

 

“Oh no,” Steve sighed, following Peter’s train of thought.

 

Not listening to Steve in the slightest, Peter excitedly ran up to Natasha. “Steve said that you guys just got called away on a mission! Do you need Spider-man’s help?”

 

Natasha quirked an eyebrow. She glanced at Steve who was standing behind Peter, frantically shaking his head no.

 

“It’s probably best if you stay at the tower.” she replied, “This could get messy, Peter.”

 

“That’s exactly why you should let me go!”

 

“I’m gonna have to agree with them on this one, kid. You’re sitting this one out.” Tony said as he walked briskly into the room, making a beeline to the coffee machine.

 

Peter groaned. “I can handle myself!”

 

“I know you can. But this mission is different. The _things_ we’re gonna be up against… You’re not ready.” Tony said whilst pouring his coffee into a mug.

 

“But I’ve been _training_! My hand-to-hand has improved, and that’s been my weak spot since… Since forever! And then–”

 

“That’s not the point.” Tony interrupted. “We know you’ve improved, we know you’re good, but this is… This mission is big. We're going against aliens, Pete. We know almost nothing about them." Tony paused, sighing, "It could be a one-way ticket, and I don’t want you _anywhere_ near a mission like that.”

 

With that statement, dread pooled at the pit of Peter’s stomach. A one-way ticket? Peter’s eyes moved nervously between Steve, Tony, and Natasha, who _apparently_ might _not_ make it back from the mission. His heart dropped at the thought of losing them.

 

“It’s _that_ bad?” he asked, suddenly sounding small.

 

“It could be. But luckily, we’re good at what we do.” Tony smirked.

 

“It’ll be fine, Peter. We have this under control. Just sit tight, we’ll be back soon.” Nat said pulling him into a tight embrace. When she pulled away, she rested her hands on his shoulders, giving him an apologetic smile before walking off to the quinjet. There was an alarming sense of finality to her goodbye, which sent a shiver down Peter’s spine.

 

“We’ll be back before you know it, Pete. Take care of the tower! And don’t eat all of my snacks!” Tony grinned, ruffling Peter’s hair. He pulled Peter into a hug, before walking over to the elevator, waving one last time before he got inside.

 

“We’ll see you when we get back,” Steve said with a small smile. Peter stared at the ground. He was too busy running through all the scenarios where the team _didn’t_ come back to even process what Steve had said. After he lost his Uncle Ben, then Aunt May, Peter was absolutely devastated. He fell into a deep, dark, pit of despair until he met Avengers, who were able to pull him out.

 

“Hey. It’s gonna be okay.” Steve gently assured, trying to meet Peter’s eyes. Steve’s voice pulled Peter out of his thoughts. With a reluctant nod, he glanced up at Steve, who was looking at him with eyes full of concern.

 

“I know.” Peter said, forcing a smile, “Good luck! Kick some alien ass!”

 

“Watch your language, Pete,” Steve scolded, fondness still evident in his voice. He pulled Peter into a hug, then walked off to find the quinjet.

 

Peter turned into the hallway to walk to his room before he heard a faint _clang!_ coming from the ceiling above him. If it wasn’t for his spidey-sense screaming at him to _get out of the way_ , he would have been flattened by the archer, who jumped out from the vents.

 

“What the hell, Clint?”

 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were right there,” Clint said with a smirk. “I heard Stark isn’t letting you come on the mission.”

 

“Him along with Steve _and_ Nat. Will you let me come?”

 

“I hate to admit it, but they’re right, Pete. You aren’t ready. And besides, even if I were to let you come, the three of them would probably skin me alive.”

 

Peter sighed. “Just… Be careful, okay? Don’t be an idiot.”

 

“Oh, Peter. When have you ever known _me_ to be an idiot?” Peter opened his mouth to object but Clint cut him off. “Actually, don’t answer that.”

 

“I’m serious. Be careful.” Peter said with a little more emotion than he had intended to use.

 

Clint’s face softened as he nodded in understanding. He placed a small black object into Peter’s hand. “This is a comm. that I stole from Tony’s workshop. I know you already have something similar, but this one is gonna be connected to all of ours when we’re out in the field today. You’ll be able to hear us, but we can’t hear you.”

 

Peter smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Clint. You’re the best.”

 

“I know, kid. I’ll see you later.” Clint said as walked away to the elevator.

 

Peter placed the comm. in his ear.

 

**_"Stark? Do you copy? What’s taking you so long?"_ **

 

**_"Doing some last-minute tune-ups. Give me five minutes."_ **

 

**_"We don’t have that kind of time, Tony!"_ **

 

**_"Just give me some time to say goodbye to Dum-E. This could be the end for all we know."_ **

 

**_"Not funny. Not funny at all."_ **

 

**_"Take a joke, Rogers!"_ **

 

**_"Just get your ass in the quinjet!"_ **

 

Peter’s blood ran cold. He wondered if Tony’s joke really had some truth to it. How dangerous was this mission?

 

Right then and there, Peter made up his mind. He was _going_ with the team. He ran into his room and quickly suited up.

 

“Good morning, Peter.” Karen greeted him.

 

“Hey, Karen! Can you activate stealth mode for me?”

 

“Sure thing.” the A.I. replied.

 

Last week, he and Tony enhanced the stealth mode feature on his suit, lining it with panels that would mirror his surroundings. Peter thanked his lucky stars that he chose to make the upgrade at the time.

 

A wave of camouflaged tiles rippled across his suit, allowing Peter to blend in with his surroundings. “This is _so cool_.” Peter grinned underneath his mask.

 

He jumped up to the ceiling, crawling along with it, en route to the landing platform.

 

“You aren’t gonna rat me out to the team, right?” Peter asked the A.I. nervously.

 

“I’m programmed to alert the Avengers if you are in distress.”

 

“I’m not in distress, Karen.”

 

“Your heart rate is slightly elevated.”

 

“Only because I’m nervous. I’m not in distress though, so there’s no need to tell the team.”

 

“You may not be in distress _but_ you did directly disobey an order from Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, and Mr. Stark.”

 

“Don’t be a snitch, Karen! I’m doing the right thing here, I swear!”

 

“Knowing of your presence would only worry the Avengers, Peter.”

 

“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t say anything to them! They’ll get distracted, then they won’t be able to complete the mission.”

 

Karen paused. “Very well. I won’t say anything.”

 

“Thanks, Karen.” Peter sighed in relief. Seeing the quinjet in the distance, Peter quietly slipped to the ground and made his way to the aircraft.

 

He stepped into the jet, taking in his surroundings. He leaped to the ceiling, flattening himself against it as his spidey-senses yelled at him.

 

“Finally, Tony! You’ve set us back about–” Steve scolded from the front of the jet as Tony stepped on board.

 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, Cap” Tony cut him off, dismissing him. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

“About time,” Clint muttered from the pilot’s seat.

 

The jet’s doors closed as it started to hover in the air, before taking off into the sky.

 

Peter let out a shaky breath. He was really doing this. He was really going against Nat, Steve, Tony _and_ Clint’s commands, and stowing away on their jet.

 

A pang of guilt hit Peter as he realized how terrible this situation really was. He had completely disobeyed what they had told him. But at the same time, they couldn’t just expect him to sit around and do nothing. He needed to be there help them… and he needed to be there in case one of them got hurt. He hated the idea of being stuck in the tower, wondering.

 

A wave of panic also rushed through Peter. He really didn’t think this through. How was he supposed to help the team if he couldn’t even reveal himself? He was going to be in _so much trouble._ Peter shuddered at the thought.

 

Hours passed as Peter clung to the ceiling. He was starting to feel a little lightheaded from behind upside down for the extended amount of time. It also probably didn’t help that he was dehydrated, hungry and extremely nervous.

 

“Somethings wrong,” Tony said, breaking the silence that filled the jet.

 

“What? Something’s wrong with the quinjet?” Steve turned his head around to face Tony, confusion and alarm written all over his face.

 

“No, not the jet. It just feels like something’s not right. Genius’s intuition, maybe. I’m probably just being paranoid.” Tony paused for a moment. “What’s our ETA, Clint?”

 

“We’ve got about 15 hours left. We’ve been flying for about 15 hours already, so we’ve just hit the halfway point.”

 

_Oh._ That made a lot more sense. Peter hadn’t been pressed against the ceiling for a _few hours_ , he’d been pressed against the ceiling for _15_ _hours._ No wonder he was so hungry, he’d skipped breakfast this morning, too.

 

“FRIDAY, how’s Peter doing?” Tony asked the A.I.

 

“Mister Parker is currently not in the building.”

 

Silence. Peter held his breath.

 

“What do you mean he’s _not in the building_?” Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Mister Parker has left the tower 15 hours ago, and hasn’t returned since.”

 

“Where is he, FRIDAY?”

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. My commands were overridden.”

 

Silence filled the quinjet.

 

“Peter’s gone?” Clint asked, whipping his head around from the pilot’s seat to face the group.

 

“Clint! Keep your eyes on the sky!” Steve yelled frantically.

 

“Chill out, it’s on autopilot,” Clint snapped back, still on edge. “Peter’s missing?”

 

As the four Avengers argued below him, Peter swayed back and forth, before succumbing to the dizziness and falling to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger-- I'll be updating within the next couple of days if all goes well. Thoughts and suggestions are always welcome for upcoming chapters!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter awakens, sprawled out on the floor, and is greeted by four not-so-happy (yet relieved) Avengers.

A tingling sensation ran throughout Peter’s body as he slowly began to regain consciousness. Loud, frantic voices around him slowly became clearer, but Peter could still not make sense of what they were saying. Peter let out a groan as his head throbbed. He winced at the light, trying to force his heavy eyelids open.

 

“He’s waking up, Tony.” he heard a faint voice call from above him.

 

Peter weakly brought a hand up to his face to pull off his mask and froze when he realized it was already gone.

  

As Peter pried his eyes open, four blurry figures floated into his field of vision.

 

“Hey, kiddo. How’re you feeling?” Tony asked, relief heavy in his tone.

 

“Mmph. Could be better.” Peter mumbled, trying to push himself up off of the ground. Everything began to spin as Peter fell forward into Steve, who caught him before he could fall down again.

 

“You gotta take it easy, Pete,” Steve said as he wrapped an arm around Peter, supporting his weight. Steve slowly lowered them both back to the ground, with Peter slumped against Steve’s side. Natasha, Tony, and Clint kneeled beside the two, worry etched on all of their faces. Natasha gently wiped Peter’s forehead with a damp cloth and handed him a bottle of water.

 

Peter gratefully took the bottle, unscrewing the lid and taking a few gulps. He shrunk back a little under the Avengers' stern, yet relieved, stares.

 

“First of all,” Tony started, breaking the silence. “What the hell were you thinking?”

 

Peter rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

 

“We told you to stay away from this and instead, you did the exact opposite!” Tony said exasperatedly.

 

“I just wanted to help!” Peter said, louder than he intended to. He finally looked up, meeting Tony’s eyes.

 

“ _Peter_.” Clint cut in while running a hand over his tired face, “Falling from the ceiling and scaring us all half to death was not helpful.”

 

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Peter mumbled as he shrunk back again, guiltily.

 

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. “Well then how was it supposed to–”

 

Natasha cut him off. “Why didn’t you listen to us, Peter?”

 

Peter paused, before responding quietly. “I was worried something would happen and you guys wouldn’t make it back,” he said, staring down at the floor.

 

Tony’s gaze softened, resting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Where’d you get that idea, Pete?”

 

“When you guys said goodbye to me this morning, you were talking about how dangerous the mission was. Then I overheard you guys talking about how this mission could be the “end” or something like that.” Peter mumbled.

 

“Oh shit. You heard that over the comm.” Clint said as he looked at Peter apologetically. “I’m really sorry, Pete.”

 

“You gave him a comm.?” Tony said, narrowing his eyes at the archer as Natasha swatted at the back of Clint’s head.

 

“Yeah, that one’s on me,” Clint said sheepishly.

 

“Not the point,” Steve said as he turned his attention back to Peter. “Nothing’s going to happen to us, Pete. Our missions are dangerous, but we’re good at our job. We’re always going to be there for you, no matter what.”

 

Peter scoffed. “You can’t possibly tell me that. You never know what’s gonna happen when you’re out there!” Peter raised his voice, shakily, “And I can’t just sit by myself, waiting for you guys to come home, because what if you _don’t_?”

 

Steve paused to think, carefully forming his next response. “If our mission is _that_ dangerous, to the point where we tell you to stay out of it, it’s only to protect you. To keep you safe. That’s the only thing we’d ever want for you.”

 

“I don’t need protection. I can handle myself!” Peter said, visibly upset. Clint rested a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

 

Natasha took one of Peter’s hands into one of hers. “I know you can handle yourself, Peter, I have no doubt about that. But you’re just a kid. It’s our job to protect you.” she said.

 

Tony picked up where Natasha left off. “And if we end up risking our lives doing so, then it’ll be worth it.”

 

Peter shook his head “I already lost my parents, then Ben and May, and if I lose you guys too…” Peter trailed off, a lump forming in his throat. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I could take that.”

 

Getting choked up, Peter opened his mouth to speak again, but no words would come out. Peter turned back into Steve’s side as Steve tightened his hold around him. Silent tears streamed down Peter's face. Steve held Peter tightly, as he exchanged grim looks with the other Avengers.

 

Eventually, Peter regained his composure and slowly pulled away from Steve, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Tony was the first to break the silence.

 

“We aren’t going anywhere, Pete, not anytime soon.” Tony paused before continuing, “But I need you to understand that when we sideline you from missions, we’re only doing it to keep you safe because whether you like it or not, you’re just a kid… You’re our kid. And I need you to _listen_ to us when we tell you these things.”

 

Peter sniffled and nodded. “I’m sorry for following you guys.”

 

“It’s alright, Peter,” Natasha said gently.

 

After a few beats of silence, Peter spoke up again. “... And I’m sorry about the whole ‘falling off the ceiling’ thing.” he winced at the last few words.

 

“Just don’t make it a habit,” Clint smirked.

 

Tony scoffed, amused. “You still realize you’re grounded, right?”

 

“That’s fair.” Peter sighed. What else did he really expect?

 

“How much longer are we flying for?” Steve asked, turning to Clint.

 

“Probably around 13 more hours, so get comfortable, Pete. I guess you’re coming along.” Clint said, ruffling Peter’s hair.

 

“But when we get there, you are staying in the Quinjet,” Natasha said pointedly.

 

“But, Nat!” Peter started but she was quick to cut him off.

 

“You’re staying, end of story.”

 

Peter sunk back in defeat. Natasha caught on to this and softened her gaze. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine, I promise,” she reassured.

 

Peter simply nodded in response. He didn’t know if he completely believed her, but he had to at this point. He had to stay behind, whether he liked it or not.

 

* * *

 

Soon enough, the Quinjet landed.

 

“Where are we?” Peter asked, looking out of the window.

 

“The less you know, the better,” Natasha said with a grin.

 

“Are we ready to go?” Steve asked, pulling on his cowl.

 

“Yeah. Let’s get this show on the road,” Clint said as he made his way out of the Quinjet. “Be good, Pete! No funny business!” he called back at him.

 

“That’s right. You stay put no matter what.” Tony added.

 

“Yeah, I get it, I’ll stay.” Peter sighed.

 

“Hang tight. We’ll be back soon.” Tony gave Peter a reassuring smile before suiting up and following Clint out of the Quinjet.

 

Steve reached out and put a hand on Peter’s shoulder, looking him dead in the eye. “You do not leave this jet under any circumstances, Peter, that’s an order.”

 

“I got it, Cap,”

 

Natasha smiled. “Good. We’ll see you soon,” she said as she and Steve left to catch up to Tony and Clint.

 

Peter sat down, sighing to himself. He took a deep breath. Why was he so worried? These were the Earth’s mightiest heroes, they could handle anything.

 

Everything was going to be fine…

  
  


... right?

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> Suggestions are always welcome for the upcoming chapter(s)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter grows restless and worried while waiting in the Quinjet. Trouble ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for any spelling and/or grammar issues along the way! Hope you enjoy!

One hour had passed since the team had left the Quinjet, and Peter was bored out of his mind. He was currently pacing back and forth restlessly on the _ceiling_ of the jet, trying to entertain himself. More accurately, trying to distract himself from the thought of something going wrong during the mission, and him knowing absolutely nothing about it. Tired of wondering, Peter somersaulted back down to the ground. He reached into his mask to find the comm. which had fallen out of his ear when he pulled his mask off.

 

He fit the comm. into his ear and listened intently.

 

**“Hawkeye, I could use an assist!”**

 

**“A little busy here, can somebody cover me?”**

 

**“On it.”**

 

**“Thanks, Cap.”**

 

Peter continued to pace again, as the team’s conversation played in his ear. A few more minutes passed before Peter a loud _rumble_ , then _crash_ sounded over the comm.

 

**“There’s too many of them! We’re gonna have to retreat!”**

 

**“We need to– damn it!”**

 

**“Nat! You have incoming at your 6 o’clock!”**

 

**“Natasha, do you copy? Get your ass out of there!”**

 

Peter held his breath, waiting for her response.

 

**“I got it, I got it, just let me finish up here!”**

 

Peter relaxed a little, knowing that she was okay for the time being.

 

**“Can somebody get to her?”**

 

**“We’re all too far away. We won’t make it in time.”**

 

**“Natasha! Get the hell out of there, damn it!”**

 

Peter's stomach dropped at the urgency of Steve’s voice. In one swift motion, Peter pulled on his mask and sprinted for the quinjet’s door. Right before the exit, Peter skidded to a halt. He was about to blatantly disobey the team’s orders for the second time that day. Guilt churned in Peter’s chest as he bit his lip. Peter shook his head and continued to run. He let out a deep breath as an uneasy smile grazed his lips. If the aliens don’t end up killing him, the Avengers totally will.

 

Peter glanced at his surroundings. “Where am I?” he muttered, only half aware that he’d said it out loud.

 

“Good afternoon, Peter. It seems that you are in some sort of forest. Tracing your location now.” Karen’s voice rang in Peter’s ear.

 

Peter practically tripped over his own two feet in response. “Jeez, Karen! Warn a guy!”

 

“You are currently disobeying a direct order from Mr. Stark, Captain Rogers, Agents–”

 

“Yeah, yeah, give me a break, will you? I’m trying to help here.” Peter cut Karen off, continuing to make his way towards the fight.

 

“I will alert the Avengers.”

 

Peter stumbled again. “No, Karen, please don’t!”

 

“Contacting the Avengers. Calling Tony Stark.”

 

“Karen,” Peter groaned as he picked up his pace, running and web-slinging even faster. “Override code: PARKER-0827,” he replied frantically into his mask.

 

“Call cancelled.” the A.I. stated blankly as Peter let out a sigh in relief.

 

“Thanks, Karen. Sorry about that.” Peter said as he swung up onto a tree branch. Peter felt the back of his neck prickle as his spidey-sense screamed at him. He dove out of the way of a bomb being thrown at a nearby branch, and gracefully flipped onto an adjacent tree, narrowly avoiding the explosion.

 

“Karen, activate stealth mode,” Peter commanded as he surveyed the battlefield below him.

 

“I’m sorry, Peter, I am unable to do so. Some of the panels in your suit were damaged from the fall you took earlier today.”

 

Damn it. “It’s alright, I’ll make do without them.”

 

Peter’s stomach dropped again as he laid eyes on Natasha, who was fighting off two of the alien creatures on the ground. Peter’s eyes grew wide as he realized that she was too preoccupied to notice a third alien, running towards her from behind.

 

Peter quickly jumped down from the tree and sprinted to tackle the third alien down to the ground. After Peter knocked the alien out with a solid punch to the head, he dusted himself off and looked around for Natasha, who was on the ground after taking down the other two aliens. He jogged over to Natasha to help her up.

 

“Hey, you okay?” he asked her while extending a hand.

 

Natasha batted his hand away as she sprung up to her feet, looking at Peter with wide eyes.

 

“Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?” she said while turning his face, checking for injuries.

 

“No, no, I’m fine. Are you–”

 

Natasha cut him off with a slap across his face.

 

Peter rubbed at his cheek. “Owww. What was–”

 

“I told you to stay back at the ship! What were you thinking?” she reprimanded, grabbing onto both his shoulders tightly.

 

“I know, but then I heard that–”

 

“Get your ass back to the ship!”

 

“But, Nat!”

 

“I can’t do this right now, Peter!”

 

“I heard you guys over the comm. again! I know you guys are shorthanded–”

 

“You want to help?” Natasha asked him as she rose an eyebrow. Peter nodded furiously. “Then you need to get out of here, away from this mess so I know that you’re safe.”

 

“I can’t just leave you guys like this! I’ll be here for back-up!”

 

“Peter,” Natasha groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

“I’ll just keep my distance and web ‘em up! I promise!”

 

Natasha’s expression remained tense, but she eventually gave in. “Fine, you can stay,” she sighed. Her eyes hardened as she grabbed Peter’s shoulders once again. “You better tell us if you’re hurt, or scared or _anything.”_

 

“I will, I swear,” Peter said while grinning.

 

Natasha nodded. She pressed a finger to the comm. in her ear, turning it back on. “Spider-man is on the field. I repeat, Spider-man is on the field,” she said, expressionless.

 

Peter could practically hear the others protesting over the comm. from where he stood. He winced at Natasha, who turned her earpiece back off.

 

Peter was about to speak again before his spidey-senses blared.

 

“Let’s go, Peter, we need to–” Natasha started before she was cut off by Peter shoving her to the side and diving out of the way himself, to avoid bomb being thrown between them.

 

The force of the explosion launched Peter in the air and threw him down the side of a nearby hill. Peter rolled and rolled down the hillside before slamming hard into a tree.

 

Peter’s groaned in pain as his ears continued to ring. He barely noticed the sound of the Iron-man suit landing beside him.

 

“Peter? You okay?” Tony said, kneeling beside him as his helmet retracted.

 

Despite the fact that Peter could barely make out what Tony was saying, he nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m good. Where’s Nat?” Peter mumbled as he tried to shakily stand up.

 

Tony grabbed his wrists, gently pushing him back down. “Natasha’s fine. Worried about you, but fine.” Tony then pressed a finger to his ear, turning on his comm. “I have eyes on Spider-man,” he said into the earpiece. Tony paused, listening to the chatter over the comm. before continuing, “Yeah, I got him. He’s a little shaken up, but he’s okay for now,”

 

“I’m not shaken up,” Peter muttered. Tony gave him a sympathetic glance before tapping his comm. again to turn it off.

 

“You’ve taken two nasty falls in the span of 24 hours. I’m benching you. You did good, kid. From what I heard, you might have just saved Natasha’s life. We’re almost done here, anyway.”

 

“But–”

 

“Stand down, Peter,” Tony insisted. His face noticeably softened at Peter’s defeated expression. “I’m just trying to protect you, kid. I hope you can understand that. Now c’mon, let’s get you back to the quinjet,” Tony said starting to help Peter up.

 

“That’ll waste time. I’ll just wait here for you guys.”

 

“I’m not just going to leave you here alone and injured, Pete.”

 

Peter scoffed. “I’m not even injured! I’m coherent and I can defend myself! Plus, I’m far away from the battlefield. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

 

After a few moments of silence, Tony finally nodded. “Alright, just stay here. One of us will come and collect you after we’re finished.”

 

Peter held up a thumbs up in response as Tony gave him a concerned glance. He squeezed Peter’s shoulder before the Iron-man suit encased his body and took off into the sky. Immediately after Tony left, Peter began to push himself off of the ground.

 

Peter already ignored two orders from the team, so _really_ , what was the harm in ignoring another one? “Maybe third time's the charm,” he smirked to himself as he made his way back towards the battlefield.

 

Peter ducked behind a tree watching the fight unfold in front of him. He watched as Captain America and Black Widow fought side by side while Iron-man flew through the sky, blasting repulsor beams at aliens below.

 

The tree rustled loudly above him as Peter’s spidey-sense blared. He sprung backward as Hawkeye jumped down from the tree, landing directly in front of Peter.

 

“You gotta stop doing that–” Peter said wearily, but Clint was quick to interrupt him.

 

“What the hell are you doing here? Tony said you were hurt!”

 

“I’m fine, and I’m here to help,” Peter said, ready to run out from behind the tree into the fray. Before Peter could take a step forward, Clint grabbed his wrist.

 

“Oh no you don’t. Not on my watch.” Clint frowned.

 

“Clint! Let me go!”

 

“You gotta be kidding if you think I’m going to let you run out there!”

 

“C’mon! I’m just trying to–” Peter argued, but trailed off when his spidey-senses began to go haywire. Like a needle pricking the back of his neck, a _sharp_ tingling sensation pulsed through him as dread pooled at the pit of his stomach. “Clint. Something’s wrong,”

 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His spidey-sense had never felt so intense before. Something was coming, Peter could feel it. His stomach dropped even further when he realized that he only had seconds to react. There wasn’t enough time for both of them to get out of there. He had to make a choice to either save Clint, or himself.

 

Peter bit his lip. The choice was pretty obvious.

 

In one fell swoop, Peter used every bit of his enhanced strength to shove Clint out of harm’s way.

 

Time had slowed to an infinite crawl. Peter watched as the archer flew backward, further into the forest. He let out a breath, then began to run to at least _try_ and escape whatever was coming.

 

He was met with a flash of white light, then nothingness.

 

* * *

 

 

“-eter! Can you hear me?”

 

“Peter!”

 

Peter winced as muffled voices became clearer. The pain he felt, was insurmountable. Peter wanted to scream in agony as it surged throughout his entire body.

 

Peter’s eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes darted to Tony, who was kneeled over him on his right with one hand cradling Peter’s head and the other pressed down on his thigh, probably to stop some sort of bleeding. Steve was crouched down on his left clutching Peter’s wrist, checking for a pulse.

 

Peter opened his mouth to say something, _anything,_ but all he could muster was a whimper.

 

Relief washed over both of the men’s faces.

 

“Oh thank god.” Steve breathed out as he gripped Peter’s wrist firmer.

 

“Hey, kid. Help’s on the way so just hang in there, okay?” Tony said softly.

 

Peter weakly nodded his head as his eyes started to feel heavy once again. He let his vision blur before a frantic voice snapped him out of it.

 

“Don’t do that, kid. You gotta stay awake for us.” Tony said shakily. Peter’s breath caught as Tony shared a grim look with Steve above him.

 

A few moments passed both Peter finally spoke. “Am I gonna die?” he asked, truly sounding like the scared child he was. Peter watched as both Steve and Tony’s composures wavered for a second.

 

Steve’s face snapped back to normal as he shook his head. “You’re going to be fine, Pete. You’re going to be just fine.” It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself, rather than Peter.

 

Peter tried to move but screamed as pain shot up his right leg. Steve was quick to use his spare hand to _gently_ restrain him.

 

“It _hurts_ ,” Peter rasped out.

 

“I know, I know. You’re doing a great job, kid,” Tony winced sympathetically as he carded his hand through Peter’s hair.

 

“Nat and Clint are bringing help, so just stay with us,” Steve whispered.

 

Peter’s eyes were growing heavier by the second and he knew he couldn’t keep them open for much longer.

 

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, as his eyes fluttered shut, darkness overtaking him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to wrap this story up soon! As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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